OrganicForged Respite
by RedDragon30000
Summary: The Demon Headmaster attempts to use one of his previous experiments to its fullest potential, but loses control of it in the process. SPLAT notice the strange goings on and get a surprise when they investigate.


**Organic-Forged Respite**

Dinah hurtled round the corner of the library, unable to suppress the breathless laughter that surged from her fleeing form. This spontaneous chase was the result of an ill-timed remark from Dinah about Lloyd's childish tantrum at the beginning of their SPLAT meeting not thirty minutes before. As he was already in a terrible mood, this only sparked his anger. He had made a lunge at Dinah (which she just managed to dodge), and his surprised sister had suddenly dashed out of the SPLAT shed with a huge grin on her face, a furious brother launching himself after her. She left behind four very surprised members of SPLAT, who could only gape in astonishment for a few minutes before they recovered themselves.

Sneaking a look over her shoulder to see how far Lloyd was gaining, she caught her foot in something, and toppled forwards onto the grass verge outside the library. Lloyd sprinted up to her, the anger on his face replaced by worry. "Are you alright? That was quite a hard fall." Dinah blinked up at him from the grass. "I'm perfectly fine. I didn't fall _that _hard-". She stopped, grimacing, as her idle gaze caught a glimpse of what had tripped her. She drew a breath of surprise, her mind already recalling a string of bad memories associated with the plant. The last time she had seen _this _particular plant, it had been dead and withered, choking the deserted corridors of the BRC laboratory. Lloyd frowned at her sudden reaction. "What's up?" Dinah shuddered slightly. "It's the creeper that the Headmaster developed in the BRC. Last time I saw it, it was completely dead". Lloyd stared at her for a few moments; his anger at her replaced with frank bewilderment, and then voiced the very question that was currently fixed in his sister's brain. "What on earth is a live creeper doing _here_?"

The rest of SPLAT were very surprised when Dinah and Lloyd walked back into the SPLAT shed without trading angry insults, an entrance which had surely been virtually guaranteed considering the manner in which they left it. Ingrid was the first to voice their confusion. "What happened? I would have thought that there hasn't been enough time for you to cool off yet." Slowly, Dinah pulled a section from a very familiar plant out of the pocket of her coat and silently put it on the box in the middle of the shed, which SPLAT used as a table. The rest of them stared at the plant in horror.

Even though Lloyd had not been in a position where he could participate in the events with the BRC and the creeper, the rest of SPLAT certainly had, and the terror of those bewildering and tension filled days were never far from their minds. Harvey, his voice shaking slightly, choked out "W-where did you f-find it?" Lloyd, the usual bluster and pomposity eerily missing from his voice, was the one who answered him. "Just outside the library, invading the undergrowth of the bushes they have planted round the building."

There was silence for a while, as SPLAT collectively pondered how the creeper could have possibly appeared again. Dinah voiced the conclusion that they all reached after a few seconds. "The most likely cause of this reappearance is the Headmaster, as he does possess the knowledge to produce this. He is also clever enough to create another Evolution Accelerator, if his plans require it."

Lloyd sighed, then pulled himself out of his gloomy thoughts and rapped sharply on the table. "Let's bring this meeting to order. We need to decide what we are going to do next. That creeper turning up outside the BRC can't be good. Suggestions?" SPLAT settled themselves into coming up with valid ideas. They knew that Lloyd came down heavily on any attempt to come out with joke suggestions when there was a serious situation, and they had no wish to make him lose his temper twice in the same day. They also had no wish to annoy Dinah by doing the same thing, as she could be driven to some very caustic comments when the need arose.

Finally, Harvey spoke up. This surprised everyone else, as they all assumed that Dinah would be the one to come up with the first idea. "Why don't we try to find out where it's coming from? It's no good guessing, that isn't going to help". Lloyd blinked at him for a moment and then nodded. "That's a good idea. Anyone else?" As they had all been expecting, Dinah was the one who came up with the most useful idea. "We should ask around. We can't have been the only ones who've seen it; the creeper looks completely different from the other plants around it". Lloyd rapped on the table again. "Alright. Ian, Mandy and Ingrid, I want you to see if you can find the creeper's source. The best place to look is around the library, that's where we encountered it. Harvey, Dinah and I will ask around. We meet outside the library in an hour with what we find out".

Dinah decided that the best people to ask would be regulars of the library, since they used the building most and would be the most likely to have seen something. Lloyd and Harvey preferred to ask the odd acquaintance further down the high street. Ambling into the library, she saw at once that the librarian, Mrs Jones, was free. Smiling, she crossed to her desk. Mrs Jones smiled back "Morning Dinah. I know you're a quick reader, but you can't have finished that book already! It's got over 1000 pages!" Chuckling, Dinah shook her head. "No, that's not why I've come in. I just saw something a little odd, just round the corner of the library. As a matter of fact, I tripped over it". Mrs Jones blinked. "What sort of thing? I hope you didn't hurt yourself". Again, Dinah shook her head. "No, I am fine. I tripped over some kind of odd creeper. It looked like it was starting to grow over the hedge. A bit like that creeper in America that completely covers anything in its way".

Mrs Jones blinked again, then, with a suddenness that surprised Dinah, her expression changed. It became completely blank, and when she next spoke, she did so in a tone that Dinah always dreaded to hear "I have seen nothing strange outside of this building. Everything is completely normal". Dinah sighed. She knew she would never get anywhere with Mrs Jones like this. She smiled and said goodbye to the librarian, deciding to experiment, and see if any of the other library regulars were hypnotised. If she could find someone who wasn't, they could gain some valuable information, and it would be almost painful for her to assume that everyone had. Due to her intelligence, she often wasn't satisfied until she had explored all her options thoroughly, which often caused friction with the more impatient SPLAT members such as Ingrid, who didn't want to wait for Dinah to finish.

Lloyd and Harvey were not having any more luck than Dinah was. Out of the people they asked, half of them either hadn't been near the library to see anything, while the rest of them were clearly hypnotised, and they were unable to get anything out of them. This was making Lloyd irritated, and he decided to call a halt, so he didn't lose his temper. Harvey sighed. "This is hopeless L. I don't think we can get anywhere at all like this. Why don't we go and see how Di's doing?" Lloyd nodded gloomily and the two of them began walking back towards the library. As he gazed moodily down the high street, he saw a sight that was so unexpected and appalling that he stopped dead.

A tall, thin figure, in a familiar gown, was talking to one of the teenagers that Lloyd had been questioning. He turned slightly, and Lloyd caught sight of the face that haunted his nightmares. Pointing with a shaking hand, he gasped out "L-look H!" Harvey did so and froze as well. As the Headmaster began to turn in their direction, Lloyd shook himself out his fear and seized Harvey's sleeve, dragging him into an alleyway between two shops. Whatever else happened, the Headmaster could _not _know that they were aware of him so quickly. He just hoped that the Headmaster didn't encounter Dinah. Apart from being the only member of SPLAT vulnerable to his hypnosis, the Headmaster absolutely _detested_ Dinah, more than any other member of SPLAT, as she had been the one who had figured out his original plan. If it hadn't been for her, he may have succeeded, even with her intelligence assisting in his scheme.

Mandy, Ingrid and Ian were surreptitiously making their way to the corner of the library where Dinah had seen the creeper. There was no need to search for it under the hedge. All three of them stood still and stared at it. The hedge was now completely enveloped in the creeper, making it into a tangled mess of creeper with the occasional hint of privet showing through. It hadn't confined itself to the hedge either. It was starting to encase the back of the library and one particular strand, quite a thick one, was making a kind of bridge between the library roof and the roof of a house the next street over. Mandy shuddered slightly. With the rate that it was covering things, it almost seemed as if the creeper was sentient, like some kind of monster.

Ian was frowning. "I wonder why no-one has said anything about this yet. I mean it's not exactly hard to miss. It's pretty much in plain sight now!" Mandy frowned, attempting to come up with a plausible explanation, Ian's words creating a puzzle that she was unable to ignore. Ian followed suit a few moments later. Ingrid sighed. _She_ knew the answer to the problem, and it always annoyed her when the rest of SPLAT didn't consider that she might have got it before everyone else. At any other time, she would have waited for Ian and Mandy to give up before smugly proclaiming the answer, but right now she wanted to get away from this creeper as quickly as she could. Apart from the bad memories that flooded back whenever she saw it, the speed of its growth was beginning to scare her and she cleared her throat to get their attention. "Let's get back to the front of the library; we need to let the others know what we've seen". They nodded, and all three members of SPLAT made their way back.

Dinah, Lloyd and Harvey looked grim when they arrived at the front of the building. It was clear that what they had discovered had not been good. Lloyd opened his mouth, most likely to suggest that they all go back to headquarters. However, Ian cut urgently across what he had been going to say. "We think you should see what we discovered. We haven't found the source of the creeper, but what we have found was bad enough". Lloyd stared at Ian incredulously, as his laid back friend had never interrupted him before. However, now was not the time to get annoyed. Lloyd merely nodded and motioned for Ian to lead the way. He did so, with the rest of SPLAT following in a puzzled manner. When they got to the creeper they had no desire to question Ian's actions any longer.

_All _of SPLAT were completely astonished, not only the ones who hadn't seen the creeper yet. This was because the growth of the creeper had now accelerated and the entire back of the library was now completely covered. Dinah shuddered at the sight, then attempted to distract the others from the disturbing plant by reporting what the Hunter's had all discovered. "Although we didn't exactly find any _information _about the creeper, we indirectly found out who was behind it. Most of the people we questioned had clearly been hypnotised. That means that it _is _the Headmaster who is the cause of the creeper". Lloyd scowled. He _hated _it when people stole his thunder. That was what _he _had been going to say. Glowering at Dinah's back, he snapped "Even if he _is _the cause of it, he's clearly lost control". They soon had a demonstration of how much he had lost control. They became aware of this when Harvey, Ian and Mandy were suddenly yanked off their feet by a group of aggressive tendrils that formed part of the creeper-bridge above their heads. They were so busy staring in horror at the SPLAT members who were now being rapidly cocooned in creeper that they completely failed to notice the gowned figure just behind them. They noticed him immediately when he spoke, in tones of derision "So it seems that this plant does not distinguish its prey in terms of intelligence".

Dinah, Lloyd and Ingrid spun round in surprise and glared at him. Then they all had a difficult time in suppressing their amusement. The situation that the other SPLAT members were in didn't seem so dire any longer. Dinah was unable to contain herself and let out a snort of mirth. The Headmaster, while not cocooned, was nonetheless just as imprisoned as the three SPLAT members were. Creeper strands had curled themselves tightly around his arms, almost completely immobilising them. A few tendrils had begun to creep around his waist as well. His glasses had slipped slightly in his struggles to free himself from the creeper, which meant that what was left of SPLAT could see the searing glare that he turned in Dinah's direction. While the rest of SPLAT flinched, Dinah merely smirked slightly. Lloyd came to the uneasy conclusion that she was used to such looks of hatred from the Headmaster. Ingrid snickered suddenly and audaciously replied to the Headmaster's opening remark "Yeah? Then that makes you as thick as the rest of us then!" The Headmaster switched his glare to Ingrid, but Lloyd decided that he wanted some answers. "So what happened? You've used this thing before, how on earth did you lose control of it?" The Headmaster scowled, irritated at being reminded of his failure. With an expression that bordered on petulance, he snapped out "Since I created this plant, I knew that I could manipulate its DNA to the fullest possible extent, and therefore control it entirely. I created a copy of the original Evolution Accelerator and produced the creeper. However, it seems that I manipulated its DNA to such an extent that it mutated, and as it no longer possessed its original DNA I was unable to halt its rapid growth". Lloyd knew that it was not to satisfy his curiosity that the Headmaster had answered him so honestly, instead he was attempting to display his superiority by reminding them of his greater intellect. Ingrid anxiously studied the coils of creeper that were Harvey, Ian and Mandy. The only parts of their body that weren't covered in creeper were their heads. She hoped they would be ok up there; hopefully it wouldn't be long before they would be able to get them down.

Lloyd smirked at the Headmaster, in the same way that Dinah was doing. "What are you going to do about the situation now? You just ruined your _own_ plans. You won't be able to come up with anything else until you stop that creeper. Since you've been tied up-" Here Lloyd's smirk grew into an almost feral smile "-you'll have to rely on _us _to get everything sorted". Although his glasses were covering his eyes again, Lloyd could tell that the Headmaster was glaring hatefully at him. He couldn't fault Lloyd's reasoning, much as he was loath to admit it. Finally he growled "What do you propose?" Lloyd matched him glare for glare. "Tell us how to stop the creeper, and it will mean that you will be freed. Then you can get on with your plans. I think you know by now that we are perfectly capable of leaving you here, and we would have done so already, if our friends weren't caught in the same predicament".

The Headmaster sighed, and then began to explain what could be done. "The only way that the creeper can be stopped is by plucking its core flower, then using the evolution accelerator to manipulate the new DNA. From there I can develop a chemical that will halt the creeper's growth". Lloyd stared at him incredulously "It's that easy?" The Headmaster shot him a look of scorn. "No. If you climb up to where I am restrained, you will see why". Lloyd glared. Even tied up as he was, it was still the Headmaster, and Lloyd had no desire to get that close to him. Dinah snorted behind him, and then before Lloyd could stop her, she had scrambled up the wall to stand next to the Headmaster.

She glowered down at the scene below her. Below them was a complete sea of creeper with the core flower that the Headmaster had mentioned just below the wall she was standing on. Lloyd called up to her "What can you see?" She studied the scene below her, and then called back "The flower is just below this wall, but it's surrounded by creeper. I also won't be able to get to it just by reaching down, it's too far". Lloyd turned to the Headmaster. "What will happen to the creeper in this area if we pluck this flower? I don't want my friends to be in danger of falling if the creeper lets go of them too quickly". The Headmaster did not attempt to deny Lloyd an answer. "It is not likely to completely lose its hold, but its grip will not be as strong as before". Lloyd nodded and noticed that the creeper bridge was close to a tree growing near the back of the library, with no aggressive tendrils near to it. Immediately, he began climbing the tree, to get close to the bridge. Dinah sighed, shaking her head. It was very annoying when Lloyd did things like that; he always had to be _doing _something. Even if it was dangerous. Ingrid was not as restrained as Dinah, and said out loud what she was privately thinking. "He's being such an _idiot!_" There was a snort from beside Dinah. "I entirely agree with that assessment". Dinah glared at him, and then turned to look down at the core flower. There _must _be a way at getting to it. She knew that they didn't have much time. If they didn't stop it soon, the creeper would engulf all of their friends.

While thinking things over, she idly gazed at the Headmaster. She felt very uncomfortable when he was wearing that gown; it reminded her too much of when she had first encountered him and this was distracting her. A fold of the gown was hanging slightly off the wall and she felt a glimmer of amusement when she reflected that it had probably become dirty by now, something that would greatly irritate the Headmaster when he came to notice it. She turned back towards the flower, and suddenly an idea came to her. It was a stupid, _crazy_ idea, one that Ian might come out with as a joke. She was however, confident that it could work. She could think of no other way to reach it. Measuring the distance of the core flower from the wall with her eyes, she strode up to the Headmaster, seized a handful of his gown, planted her feet against the side of the wall and hurled herself forward. Ignoring Ingrid's yell of "Di! What the _hell_ are you doing?" she stretched out her arm as far as it would go, struggling to maintain her grip on the folds of the gown she had grasped in her hands. Just when she thought she would not be able to get it, she managed to grasp the core flower and pulled with all her might, breaking its stem. However, her exertions had loosened her tenuous hold on the gown and she loosed a cry of surprise and fear as she began to fall towards the waiting creepers.

Suddenly, a hand snapped around hers, cold and hard, jerking her to a stop and halting her fall. She gasped, looking up to see who had saved her, and could only stare in disbelief. It was the Headmaster. She could see that he was straining to keep her from falling and he suddenly hauled at her hand, pulling her up to the safety of the wall. She fell forwards as soon as she reached it, trembling slightly, the danger of the situation she had just been in only now beginning to strike her. The Headmaster stared down at her quivering form for a few moments before releasing her hand and seizing her by the shoulders. He shook her angrily and hissed furiously "_What were you thinking?_" His anger broke through her fear and she flinched at his tone. She gulped, putting all thoughts of providing a sarcastic answer out of her head. She had _never_ seen him this angry, even when she had first foiled his plans. She had no desire to make him angrier, not when he was this close to her. "It was the best I could come up with at the time" she mumbled, not daring to meet his gaze. He shook her again. "You _stupid_ girl! I know you are intelligent enough to come up with a better plan than that! You gave into your emotions, which shows just how much they can ruin your own logical reasoning". Dinah blinked at him. While he had not held back on his insults about her plan, he had also, if unwittingly, paid her a compliment. Eyes narrowed, she opened her mouth to argue with him, but his fingers suddenly dug into her shoulders, making her wince. She subsided, afraid of his wrath once again.

He straightened, one hand still gripping her shoulder, the other pulling unresisting creeper off his arms. He looked up, and Dinah followed his gaze, noting that Lloyd had freed the others and was leading them back across the creeper bridge. She felt uncertain, everyone was free now, but so was the Headmaster. He could still cause trouble for them, especially for her, as she could be hypnotised. Lloyd led the others down the tree and finally SPLAT was assembled below them. Lloyd stared up at the two of them, and then stated, his voice hard "I think it's time we discussed terms". The Headmaster seemed lost in thought, his face an unreadable mask. Dinah wondered whether she dared try to sneak away, but as if he had read her thoughts, his grip tightened and he grasped her other shoulder, drawing her back to stand against him. He shook his head and growled "I think _not_. I may have a use for you". This time, Dinah was in too much of a panic to be afraid of him. Freedom was only a few metres away, if she could get off this wall and away from his hold, SPLAT would have the advantage. She immediately started struggling, dimly aware that SPLAT was moving closer to the wall with the intention of freeing her. Her hopes were dashed when the Headmaster shouted "Stop! If you come any closer I _will _take her with me. If you don't wish to see her harmed then you should stay where you are".

The shuffling from below halted, but she continued to struggle. The Headmaster fought to maintain his grip on her, and she ignored his hissed orders to cease. Suddenly she jabbed backwards with an elbow, and the Headmaster grunted in pain and surprise, letting go of her. She had no idea that the Headmaster was able to recover so quickly, but he did so, and this time she had finally pushed him too far. _Crack!_ She stopped her flight at the edge of the wall, emitting a yelp of pain as a fiery sting spread across her bottom. Her eyes were wide with amazement, unable to process that the Headmaster had actually _swatted _her. He took advantage of her distraction to pull her back again, and snarled at her "Try that again and you will feel my hand a lot more".

SPLAT were utterly shell-shocked, unable to believe what they had just seen. The Headmaster snapped down at them "_I _am the one who will be dictating terms. Dinah will give me the core flower. In return for retrieving it and giving it to me, I will completely stop the creeper and allow you and Dinah to go on your way. I will also hold off implementing my plans for at least six months. If I find you interfering with my plans the next time, you will regret doing so". His furious expression, so different from his normally emotionless face, had them all shivering. He turned his attention to Dinah and hissed "As for _you_, if I ever have you in my grasp again, I will punish you for every time that you foiled my plans. I have been far too lenient. You will wish that you had never set eyes on me". Currently, Dinah was wishing that at the moment. She had never been so afraid of him before and was having a hard time not giving into her desire to cry. She was unprepared when he abruptly leaped off the wall, dragging her with him. She instinctively clutched his arm in a frenzied grip, only letting go when her feet were on the ground. He shoved her towards Lloyd, snatching the core flower from her unresisting grasp. Then with a last hateful glare, lingering most of all on Dinah, he began to stride away. Lloyd hugged her as she fell against him, for which she was grateful. She was in desperate need of some comfort after all she had been through. Over his sister's head, Lloyd glared after the retreating gowned figure. "I hope he doesn't try anything for a _very _long time!" Dinah clutched at him, thinking that if the Headmaster's intention had been to discourage her from interfering in his plans, he was succeeding. She agreed with Lloyd. She _never _wanted to set eyes on him again.


End file.
